one hit
by milomariano
Summary: What would happen if instead of Jess fighting back when Dean punched him at Kyle's party, he didn't recover so quickly from the hit? What if Rory was the only one there to comfort him? What would he say? How would he apologise? Starts 3x19. Rated M for language.
1. i think i might kinda love you !

**A/N: hey y'all! thanks for choosing to read my fic aye, this is gonna be a long journey! i'm hoping to cover the end of season 3, and then season 4-7! (in my own au of course). so yeah, thanks for joining me early! i'll let you get to the story!**

 **Chapter 1**

flashback:

 _"Jess!" Rory yelled._

 _"Jeez!" he turned away._

 _"Not here, not now! What is wrong with you!?"_

 _"Nothing's wrong with me!" he defended, but he could feel his strength slipping away. She wasn't going to forgive him from what he had just done. No way._

 _"Someone could have walked in that door," she cried._

 _"And Santa Claus could have climbed down the chimney, whatever," he knew he shouldn't be using sarcasm now, of all times. But he just couldn't help it._

 _"You did not think that it was going to happen like this, did you?" she was pleading with him._

 _"I don't know what I think, anymore," he realised bitterly._

 _"Jess."_

 _He snapped. "Rory stop, just stop! I did not invite you up here, you came on you own!"_

 _The look that came across Rory's face was something he would never forgive himself for. It was one of complete shock, of disappointment, of sadness. It killed him knowing he caused it. "I..." she started. "I don't know what I did..." she opened the door and ran down the stairs._

 _Fuck. "You didn't do anything. Rory!"_

 _Seeing Rory downstairs, with Dean, more strings inside him snapped. As he walked down, he user his last energy to mutter "figures," before being mature and walking away. That was before Dean hit Jess in the back of the head. Jess only wished he knew what happened after that._

* * *

Jess woke up in the hospital, confused and disoriented. He heard a small intake of breath next to him, like a snore, before feeling someone else's hand on his own. His head hurt. It really hurt. That and the fact that Rory were next to him were his only thoughts. He subconsciously squeezed her hand tighter.

Her head rose a bit, before she realised what had happened and concentrated on Jess. "Oh, my god. Are you okay? Wait, stupid question. I-"

Jess squeezed her hand again to make her stop. "I'm fine. Well, not fine, but... can you just tell me what happened?"

Tears welled up in Rory's eyes. She put her free hand on his chest and took a small part of his shirt in her hand. "It was horrible, Jess. He just walked up and hit you. I yelled at him, I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me. Maybe if i tried a bit harder, he wouldn't have -"

Jess cut her off again. "Rory stop. There's - there's nothing you could have done, okay?"

Rory broke their eye contact. "Okay."

They sat in silence for a long time, but it wasn't companionable silence. It was awkward. For the first time since their first almost-kiss as a couple.

"I couldn't get tickets to the prom," he mumbled. He hoped that would help her realise he wasn't graduating, he didn't think he could face telling her outright that he was a failure. "I'm sorry."

She didn't look at him. "Oh." She hid her face a little so that he wouldn't see her eyes watering. "Jess..."

"I'm not," he admitted after a pause. Better to get it over with. "I flunked." He ignored the way his voice seemed somehow far away, or how much his head hurt. The throbbing. Shit.

"You..." Rory's eyes widened. "Oh, god. Are you going back to school? Please go back. You just have to take one year over! It's fine, it's okay. This is okay. We can..."

"Rory, can we not talk about this now? Please?" Jess didn't want to stress Rory, or himself, out. Not now.

Rory didn't answer, so after a few moments Jess took the initiative. "Is this... are we... are we okay?" He had a vague memory of last night and didn't like the situation he remembered.

Jess dreaded the answer. He shouldn't have asked. He waited for Rory to collect her thoughts. "I don't know."

"I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to... push you, that's what I did, right?" He frowned, not remembering details.

"Jess, how much do you remember?" She took on a new worried look.

"Just... I remember being mad, and I remembered your face..." he shut his eyes briefly, scaring Rory for a second. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"Jess, I have to know. I know all this deep conversation is killing you right now, and I'll let you rest, but... are you okay with it? With me not being ready to... I don't want to make you frustrated."

Jess put both hands around one of hers. "No way. I think I was just mad about school. I'm an idiot, but... I don't care about... that."

"Why?" That question carried so much meaning. It wasn't just a simple yes or no question. He thought about it for a second, before having a realisation hit him like a truck, even though he knew the feeling was always there. "Because..."

"No," Rory backtracked. "It doesn't matter. It's too hard. I'm sorry I asked. You don't have to answer."

"No, it matters." He paused. "I think I love you."

"What?" the look on her face went blank, before she realised he was waiting for an answer. "You think?"

"Well, yeah. I sort of depends what you feel..."

"Stop- stop thinking." She moved from the chair onto the bed next to him, as he shuffled over to make room for her. She lay down next to him, reaching out to put her arms around him before hesitating.

"What? What's wrong?"

Rory blushed. "I just... am I going to hurt you?"

Jess chuckled. "No, come on." He wrapped his arms around her, still ignoring the pain in his head, the feeling that if he tried to get up he'd fall right back down again.

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

Rory gulped. "I think I kind of love you too."

He put his arms tighter around her and kissed her forehead, before passing out.

 **A/N: thanks for reading the first chapter! please review!! if this first chapter gets a good rep then i'm sure to keep updating ! let me know what you think!**

 **\- stella**


	2. All I wanna do is pull you close

**A/N: sorry it's been so long! I run an editing account on Instagram, @xgilmcre, and I've gotten distracted by that recently. This chapter is a little bit of a filler, but please review!! I always love to know what y'all think!!**

 _"Dean, no!" Rory yelled, trying to get Dean's attention, not that he was listening._

 _He threw all his body weight behind the punch. Being as big as he was, that was a huge amount of force. There was no way Jess could withstand that. He didn't. He crumpled on the floor, as Dean stepped back slowly and turned his gaze to Rory, who was running towards her boyfriend._

 _"Jess!" She screamed, kneeling over him._

 _Dean came closer to her, still standing up. She vaguely heard someone calling 911._

 _"Rory, I-"_

 _"Don't," she warned, her voice shaking as she tried to keep her cool with him._

 _"But Rory-"_

 _"I said don't!" She yelled. "Look what you did!"_

 _"I didn't mean-"_

 _"I don't care!" Her voice started to go hoarse. "You could have killed him! Why?! You had no idea what happened, and you-"_

 _"He hurt you!" Dean matched her tone. "You came downstairs, crying, and I thought-"_

 _"You had no right to think anything! As much as you seem to disagree, this isn't your relationship! Stay out of my business! Focus on Lindsay!" She turned back to Jess and cradled his head in her arms until the ambulance arrived._

 _"Will he be okay?" Rory asked. "Can I ride with him?" It took some begging, but within a few regrettably wasted minutes Rory was walking into the back of the van. As she walked past Dean, she gave him a death glare. "Don't ever talk to me again," she hissed, before entering._

 _ **xxxxxx**_

"Well, he has a concussion," the doctor confirmed.

Luke sighed. He had arrived about an hour after Rory got there, sadly unable to get out of work for a while. He put his arm around Rory, as she held his hand tight.

Jess could hear the whole exchange from inside the room. "Talking long term effects, there is a chance that his sight could deteriorate, though this is unlikely. Talking short term, he could develop post-concussion syndrome."

Rory gasped. "What does that mean?"

"It encompasses a lot of symptoms, including dizziness, vomiting, fatigue, vertigo, insomnia, depression, anxiety, agro, and sensitivity to noise and light."

"Oh jeez," Luke finally spoke up. "He'll need lots of rest, right?"

"Definitely. Keep him off school for a few days to a week, don't make him work more than one to two hours a day."

"Oh he's going to be happy..." Luke mumbled.

"Luke!" Rory lightly punched his arm.

"Well, that's all the information you need. We'll keep him one more night, give him the results for his eye tests, make sure everything's fine, all that. You can see him now." The doctor walked away.

"You go first," Rory lightly pushed him.

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely. Go."

 ** _xxxxxx_**

Luke walked into the room, finding Jess staring at the ceiling with tears in his eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" Luke asked, pulling out a chair.

"Nothin'," Jess tried to brush him off.

"I know you're lying, Jess. I'm not an idiot."

Jess frowned. "Yeah, I know."

"So what's up?"

Jess sighed. "I'm a dick."

"Jess-"

"No, I am. And I barely realised it until now, so I'm an idiot as well."

Luke had no idea where Jess was going with this. "Huh?"

"This whole thing... it's my fault."

"No way, Jess. Rory told me what happened."

Oh, yeah. Trust Rory to make Jess seem innocent. "What did she say?"

Luke cleared his throat. "She said that she was talking to Dean while you were in the bathroom, and that you took it the wrong way. But that you tried to be mature and not react, until Dean came over and sucker punched you."

Jess' heart broke a little more. Rory had tried to make the situation better for him by making him seem innocent. "Yeah, well... no, that's not what happened."

"Then what happened?"

"I pushed her."

Luke didn't understand. "Pushed her? Jess, you can't do that! Is she hurt?"

Jess chuckled. "Not like that, Luke. I uhh... _pushed_ her."

"That still doesn't make... oh." A disappointed look came over Luke's face, before a slightly mad one replaced it. "What the hell, Jess!?" he boomed, and was about to yell another sentence when Jess tensed up his face and stiffened.

"Shit, Luke! Don't talk so loud!"

Luke's face softened. "Oh, god, um, I'll send Rory in."

"Okay."

Luke pointed a finger at Jess. "If she ever tries to apologise, make sure she knows its your fault."

"I will."

 ** _xxxxxx_**

"Jess?" Rory called softly into the room. "Luke told me you guys had a thing."

Jess turned away from her. "Not really."

Rory walked over to him. "What happened?"

"Nothing."

Rory sighed. "Come on, Jess. Don't shut me out." Jess continued to ignore her. "Look, I know I caused this, but-"

"What?" Jess surely didn't hear what he thought he heard. "Rory, how could you have caused it?"

Rory started to pace. "Well, I came off a little too strong when I said no, I shouldn't have yelled at you, I shouldn't have-"

"Stop." Jess shook his head slowly, wincing. Rory rushed over to hold his hand. "You didn't cause it. Look, I don't want to talk about this right now, but it's not your fault."

Rory shook her head. "If you say so, Dodger." Jess smiled tightly. He loved that nickname.

She pressed a soft kiss to his lips, before he started to sit up and she pulled away for a second, asking if he was okay, but the only response she got was his lips on hers.


End file.
